


Any Shelter in a Storm

by opalmatrix



Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Being Lost, Cold Weather, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Rain, Sharing Body Heat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-31
Updated: 2013-05-31
Packaged: 2017-12-13 13:11:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/824670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/opalmatrix/pseuds/opalmatrix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Natsume's expedition with his friends turns out to be a bit more than a walk in the park.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Any Shelter in a Storm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Smillaraaq](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Smillaraaq/gifts).



> For Hurt/Comfort Bingo. The prompt was "cuddling for warmth," and **[smillaraaq](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Smillaraaq/)** wanted gen Madara + anyone, _Natsume Yuujinchou_. Beta by **[smillaraaq](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Smillaraaq/)** , too.

"I'm sure that this is the right path, Taki."

"It should be going downhill! Now we're climbing again."

"She's right, Tanuma. I think we're lost."

"It's almost dark, too," said Taki.

Tanuma sighed. "You two have no faith. Have I ever steered you wrong?"

"Yes," said Natsume.

"What about that time at the school picnic?" asked Taki. "We were lost for hours."

"Oh, all right! Good thing I have my cell phone." He pulled it out of his pocket and pressed the button on the top. Nothing happened.

"You didn't forget to charge it, did you?" said Taki, at last.

"I did charge it!" Tanuma protested. "My charger must be broken!"

Natsume sighed. "It doesn't matter. The question is, what are we going to do?"

"Wait for morning, I guess," said Taki, quietly.

"What if it rains?"

"It better not," said Tanuma, but the air had that soft moistness that made rain feel like a real possibility. And the wind was growing colder.

"We'd better find some sort of a shelter," said Natsume. "Did either of you see a cave, or a rock overhang, or anything?"

"Not a thing," said Taki, sadly. "There was a stand of pine trees a few minutes back up this trail, though."

"Yes, that would be better than nothing," Natsume agreed. They turned back. The last pink ribbons of the sunset were darkening in the sky above them, and stars were already showing in the other direction. They found the pine trees almost as much by smell as by sight, because they were nothing but a slightly pointier mass against the shoulders of hill and the other trees along it. Getting down on their hands and knees, they crawled through the pine needles on the ground beneath the trees until the branches were completely blocking any view of the darkening sky.

"I guess this is as good a place as any," said Tanuma, settling with his back against a tree trunk. Taki sat next to him, and Natsume sat back on his heels and started going through his satchel. A moment later, they were all blinking at the bright light he held in his hand.

"A flashlight! Natsume, you're so awesome!" said Taki.

"I don't know how long the battery will last, though," he said. "We'd better take a look at how much we have to eat and drink, and whether we have anything to keep us warm."

They all turned out their bags out onto the pine needles. Tanuma had a sweatshirt, two rice balls, an orange, and an unopened bottle of watermelon ramune. Taki had a plastic rain poncho, a sweater, a sketchbook and a pencil box, half a bag of snow pea crisps and another of wasabi peas, half a bottle of water, and a KitKat. Natsume had a warmup jacket, a plastic bag of rice crackers, the last of a bag of squid shreds, a little container of cucumber rounds, and most of a bottle of coffee milk, the _Book of Friends_ – and Nyanko-sensei. The _youkai_ uncurled himself and yawned.

"Oh, Natsume, look: your kitty came along!" said Taki, and picked him up for a hug. Nyanko-sensei let out an undignified squeak and then squirmed until she put him down on the ground again, where he stretched his short legs, one at a time.

"Are we back yet? I'm hungry."

"We're all hungry," said Natsume. "We're also lost."

"What have we got to eat?" asked Nyanko-sensei, cutting to the heart of the matter as far as he was concerned. 

Natsume showed him their supplies. "That's all we've got," he warned.

"I'll take that squid," said Nyanko-sensei. "And the rice balls."

Natsume looked at his friends. They shrugged. "Here, Ponta," said Tanuma, handing him the rice balls. Nyanko sneered at him but accepted the offering.

"Poor kitty," said Taki, as the _youkai_ ate. "I wish I had something hot to give you."

"Yes, well, we all wish that," said Tanuma, shivering. "Because that would mean we had a fire or something."

"Not one of you has matches?" said Nyanko-sensei. "Children nowadays are so useless."

"Why would we have matches? Campfires aren't allowed in the park," said Taki. "Oh, no – it's raining!"

Indeed, rain was starting to patter on the branches above them, and some of it was getting through. "We'd better put on our sweaters and things," said Natsume.

"Maybe we can all fit under the poncho, if we get close together," said Taki. She was right, although they had to be more or less on top of each other for it to work.

"I think we should eat the food," said Tanuma. "It will help us stay warm."

"But it's hours and hours until morning," said Natsume. "If we eat now, we won't have anything for later."

"I'm thirsty," said Taki. "Let's drink the water, anyway. I wonder if the rain would fill the bottle up, afterward."

"Don't go out to try it! You'll get all wet," warned Tanuma.

They huddled together. It was uncomfortable, to say the least, and the air grew colder and colder. "Let's put Tanuma in the middle," said Taki, at last. "He'll get sick."

"No, I won't," protested Tanuma bravely. But his voice was hoarse, which spoiled the effect. They squirmed to rearrange themselves under the thin plastic, and they were all slightly damp by the time Tanuma was ensconced between Natsume and Taki.

"I'm still cold," whispered Taki, after a while.

Natsume shivered. "I think we all are. I wonder how long it is until morning?"

Tanuma managed to get to his wristwatch, which had a lighted display. "Oh ... it's only eight thirty."

Taki sighed. "It's going to be the longest night ever. My mother will be so worried! Are _you_ cold, kitty?"

"No, but I can't sleep because I'm surrounded by whining idiots!"

Natsume tried to keep his temper. "I'm sorry, Nyanko-sensei."

"Plainly, there's only one thing to do," announced the _youkai_.

"What?" asked Tanuma, his teeth chattering.

They all saw a flash of light, and the creature was towering over them, a lucky cat no longer. "What happened?" said Taki, who could not see him at all now. "Oh ... it's furry! Is that – ?"

"Yes, it's M- I mean, Nyanko-sesei."

"He's warm, too," said Tanuma, settling against Madara's flank with a sigh.

"Aren't you getting wet now, Nyanko-sensei?" asked Natsume. He knew that Madara wasn't fond of the rain.

"It hardly matters," said Madara, loftily. "I need to protect the _Book of Friends,_ since you have been so careless as to have risked it this way. A being of my power need not fear a little damp – unlike you sad creatures."

"I don't suppose," said Natsume, cautiously, "That you could fly us all back? I mean – "

"All three of you? Really? And it would take a miracle even for me to navigate in this wet murk. No, we'll wait it out. You've been foolish, as usual, and you will just have to face the consequences in the morning."

With Madara's long, furred form curled around them, they were warm enough that the slight dampness did not bother them much. Soon they were fast asleep.

Early the next morning, they were awakened by a search party. After a thorough scolding, they were soon on their way home in a police van. Natsume braced himself for another scolding from his aunt and uncle, but they were surprisingly philosophical about the whole experience.

"You're only young once, I suppose!" said Uncle Shigeru.

"Yes, I guess you've learned your lesson, Natsume," said Aunt Touko. "And to think that you put your poor cat through all this too!"

Natsume glanced over to where Nyanko-sensei was polishing up a plate of fresh halibut. Touko and Shigeru didn't seem to notice when the cat winked. "You're right, Aunt Touko," said Natsume, solemnly. "I'll try not to ever put him through something like that again."

 


End file.
